Snowshoe Hares
by SurferSquid
Summary: Winter comes to Worgen Island. So do ridiculous children.


"It's snowing!" I cried as I raced down the halls of Worgen Island Fortress. "It's snowing, it's snowing, it's _snooowwwwiiinnngg!_ " Like Scrooge on Christmas morning, I dashed to the nearest window and flung it open. "Hello, winter!" I called out into the flurry. For a reply, I was quickly coated with a dusting of the white stuff.

I laughed and shut the window, feeling the snow start to melt and soak into my clothes and hair. "I'm wet and cold and it's _great!_ " I yelled.

A large clawed hand mussed my hair. "Avast, remember what I told ye, love!" my husband said with a chuckle. "You'll give yer pretty li'l face frostbite!"

"Sorry," I said, wiping my face with my sleeve and taking off my glasses to try to dry them on said sleeve. "I just get so excited about snow! It never snowed where I lived back on Earth! But now, every winter I get to see frozen water fall from the sky… it's _crazy!_ "

Qrrog laughed again. "Funny how someone else's perspective can make everythin' seem new again. It is pretty amazin', now that I think about it."

"No it ain't!" Vasily hissed as he trudged up to us. The poor bangaa wore a thick sweater under his flight jacket, and had his scarf wrapped around his head nearly to his ears. "It'sss a nuisssance, that'sss what it is! Ssstop openin' windows, you'll freeze usss all ter death!"

"Ah, our first snowstorm of the season," Hesketh said as she came down the hall from the opposite end. "I must admit that after my miscast spell in Camoa, I've particularly disliked snow."

"I'm sorry that happened," I said. "That was one crazy blizzard. But I still can't help but be excited about snow."

"I won't try to stop you," Hesketh said, "but don't expect to see much of me. I'm going to hole myself up in my quarters with plenty of books and food and a good heating spell."

I smiled. "Fair enough."

Qrrog put his hands on his hips. "Say, you know what weather like this calls for?" he asked.

"Building a snow fortress!" I said. "I've always wanted to do that!"

My husband laughed and patted me on the head. "You'll get to build yer snow fortress, love. But it's best to play in the snow after the snowin's done. Let it build up all nice-like so there's plenty fer ye to work with."

"That makes sense," I said, although I still felt a little disappointed that I couldn't run out there right now and start frolicking in the freezing temperatures. Hmm, okay, maybe I'm a touch eccentric. But to be fair, when I'd lived in blistering heat underneath sunny skies for the first twenty-odd years of my life, actual seasons and precipitation were still a novelty.

"Now, what I was gonna say," Qrrog said, "was that weather like this calls fer hot cocoa!"

I pumped my fist. "I can get behind that! With lots and lots of marshmallows?"

"Whole bags o' marshmallows!" Qrrog said.

"You'd better not be blowin' the budget on marshmallows, Tubby!" Vasily said.

Qrrog grinned at him. "Nah, fifty pounds o' marshmallows won't even make a dent in the Pirate King's treasury."

And so we spent the evening huddled by the large hearth in the dining hall, drinking as much hot cocoa with marshmallows as our stomachs could hold. Every so often I would look out the window and watch the snow drifting down, and grin. That snow fortress was gonna happen.

The next morning dawned whiter and shinier than a toothpaste commercial. The thickest blanket of snow I've ever seen coated the fortress and the ships in the bay, rounding out harsh edges of stone, glistening blindingly in the sun.

Naturally I wanted to go play in it. Qrrog and I got all bundled up, and then we ran outside to finally make that snow fortress.

Someone had beat us there.

"Snow monster!" a young viera girl announced as she emerged from a snowdrift, splaying her long fingers like claws as she snarled at us.

My husband and I laughed. "Oh dang!" I said. "This is serious! Qrrog, what do we do?"

"She looks like a formidable foe to me!" Qrrog said. "I dunno if we can handle this one!"

"Over here!" another young voice said. "Behind these crates is the safe zone!" A second pair of viera ears poked out past a pile of cargo.

"Quick, to the safe zone!" I said, grabbing my husband's hand and moving as fast as I could through the thick snow.

"Not so fast!" The viera girl launched herself at Qrrog and latched on to his arm. "If I'm touching you, I can go in the safe zone too!"

The boy viera already in the safe zone popped his head out from his hiding place. "That's not one of the rules!" he said.

"It is now!" the girl said.

Qrrog shook his head with a chuckle as he plowed through the snow, carrying aloft the arm with the viera attached to it. "Now, now, Mimmi, you can't just make up rules halfway through a game," he said to her. "Unless everybody else agrees that you can, o' course."

The boy folded his arms with a scowl. "I didn't agree!"

"Well, I'm tired of being the snow monster!" Mimmi said. She let go of Qrrog's arm and dropped down next to the boy with the usual grace and agility of her race. "It's Bartelo's turn!"

"I didn't agree to that either!" Bartelo said, his frown growing even more severe.

"Mimmi, Bartelo," a woman's voice said from the top of the crates. A viera woman had somehow climbed on top of them without us noticing. Unlike her children, her fur was pale and her short hair was mint green in color. "If you cannot get along, you cannot play in the snow."

I smiled. Being an Assassin, Katje was very good at showing up unannounced.

"Mother!" Bartelo said, his long ears flicking back. "Mimmi's annoying me!"

"Say, I've got a grand idea," said someone else. Striding through the snow toward us, his long plaid scarf trailing behind him, was a male viera with his cream-colored hair tucked back in a thick braid and a glint in his dark eyes. "Let's have a snowball war!"

Katje leaped off of the crates and landed in the snow next to him, sending up a spray of white. "And what, pray tell, is a snowball war, Emerens?" she asked her husband.

He tilted his head at her. "You never had a snowball war as a child? We both grew up in Moorabella—you must not have gotten out much. Ah, you'll have fun with this!" Kneeling down next to her, he began piling the snow in front of them into a wall. "We divide into teams. Each team gets ten minutes to build a fortress. Then, we lob snowballs at each other's' fortresses, and the first one to break the wall wins!"

"That does sound like fun, Dad!" Mimmi said, scrambling over to her parents. "I'll help!"

"So will I!" Bartelo said. He dove into the snow next to his sister as they piled it high.

Mimmi tugged on one of his ears. "No! You're on the other team!" she insisted.

Bartelo frowned again, and that's when I decided to step in. "Hey, I want to play too!" I said. "How about if Qrrog and I are one team, and your family is the other team?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Katje said. "Families should work together, not be divided against each other."

"Then we'll have a family feud!" I said as Qrrog and I started to build up our own fortress. "That's an Earth reference, by the way," I told him. "It was something called a game show. Pretty ridiculous."

"I'd like to see what'd happen if we entered a game show," Qrrog said. He pushed a huge mound of snow upward and started to pack it down hard.

Meanwhile, I started on our cache of snowballs, carefully shaping each one and putting it in a stockpile. "Me too," I said. "I think we'd win." Leaning back on my heels, I examined my handiwork. "Now this is what I call a cold war." Behind me, my husband snickered.

At the end of the ten minutes, both sides had pretty respectable snow fortresses. Emerens is an artist, so his nicely symmetrical creation, complete with buttresses, small windows, and even decorations etched into the snow, made the Squallhammers' fortress look like a glorified pile. But I didn't mind much. I was just in it for the fun. And I also wanted to get Katje's kids to stop squabbling. Don't get me wrong, they're adorable and we all love them, but they're still learning how to sibling, as most kids are.

"Ready whenever you are!" Emerens called from past his snowy citadel.

"Fire away, matey!" Qrrog said, a snowball already in each hand.

And then the battle commenced. Qrrog's aim is way better than mine, so it was my job to keep him supplied with ammunition while also attending to any breaches in the wall. Meanwhile, Emerens had Mimmi aid in lobbing their missiles, while Katje and Bartelo tended to their defenses.

I kind of figured Qrrog and I didn't stand a chance, and before long our fortress was reduced to snowy rubble. "We won!" Mimmi shrieked, throwing an armful of snow into the air. "We're fantastic!"

"Next time I want to throw!" Bartelo said.

His mother put an arm around his shoulders. "But your job was just as important, my son," Katje said with a smile. "We could not have won if not for your diligence." That made his ears perk.

"Sorry about that," Emerens said to us as he rewrapped his scarf. "No hard feelings?"

"Nah, don't worry about it none," Qrrog said, patting the viera's shoulder. "We had fun and we were outnumbered anyway. The most important thing is that the kids enjoyed it."

"Let's have another war!" Mimmi said. "C'mon, Dad, rebuild the fortress!" She tugged on Emerens's hand.

He sighed and patted her head. "Guess I'm not as young as I used to be, Mims," he said. "Dad's tired and cold already, and he just wants to go inside and read. Would Mother care to join him?"

Katje smiled. "She would," she said, taking his hand. "I am sorry, children, but I am sure you will find someone else to play with."

"That's okay," Bartelo said. "We can play with Missus Terra and Mister Qrrog! Right?" He looked up at us with a wide, missing-toothed grin.

I chuckled. "It was fun," I said, "but I have to admit that I'm tired and cold, too. I could go for another round of hot cocoa."

"Aye, me too," Qrrog said. "Although I hate to leave you kiddos out 'ere with nobody to play with."

I caught his eye with a smile. I had an idea. "You know," I said to the viera children, "there are a couple of people here who really like building things. Go to the workshop and find Winn and Vasily. I think they'd enjoy this game."

"And don't let Scales scare ye with all his grumblin' about the cold," Qrrog added. "It's all fer show. He won't be able to resist a good engineerin' project."

"Okay!" Bartelo said. "C'mon, Mimmi!" The boy took off in the direction of the workshop.

"I'm coming!" his sister said, trailing after him.

Qrrog and I watched them go, and we couldn't help but smile. "Good thinkin', love," Qrrog said, giving me a squeeze.

"Thanks," I said. "And thank you for letting them live here. Kids deserve to grow up feeling safe and loved."

He gave me another squeeze, but said nothing. I knew what he was thinking—neither of us had had happy childhoods. But it made us both all the more determined to provide for and care for any children who landed in our own lives.

"Now, about that hot cocoa," Qrrog said.

"Still interested," I said. Arm in arm, we walked away from the battlefield, and I, for one, felt utterly happy.


End file.
